Delving: Effort

Facing the inner firestorm
Has brought about
A most interesting result:
A new determination,
A goal directed effort,

Which, although
It waxes and wanes,
As all new skills do
Before they’re well established,

Consists of
A persistence, an insistence
Upon happiness,
Regardless of the outer conditions,

A striving towards
Joy and delight,
Contentment and peacefulness
In relation to all that is,

The great struggle
With the inner tempest,
Makes the outer world
Seem so much smaller,
And ultimately
Too weak to intrude
Upon the inner quietude;

Perhaps I begin to see
What may be gained
By exerting effort
In this direction,
The vital connection
Between the inner
And outer domains,
How they can intersect and interact
In such a useful way,
With the right amount and quality of effort.